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The Monochrome Wars
The Monochrome Wars were a series of major conflicts that occurred between 1916 and 1956. The name was given from veterans who described the intense battles of Shinigami and Arrancar as "a monochrome of black and white", referring to the black garb of the Shinigami and white garb of the Arrancar. The Start of the War What exactly started the conflict is subject to debate by Seireitei historians, but the most accepted event is the betrayal and imprisonment of Malignos (the self-proclaimed "god" of all Hollow]] by the Cero Espada of the time, Vendius Mer Pathogos, who crystallized the ancient god into a power reservoir for Hollow. With a rapid increase in overall combat strength as well as numbers, the Espada sought an to test their new power, leading directly to The Midnight Slaughter, in which thousands of Hollow traveled to Earth and killed any humans they encountered before being attacked by Gotei forces. The Gotei responders vastly underestimated the threat, which led to the deaths of the Fourth and Third Division Captains, Naomi and Heishiro Namamura. Shocked at the sudden losses of two Captains (a husband and wife from a Great Noble House), the Gotei declared total war on the Espada. An alernative take on the war's origins was brought to light after the discovery of the Purgare organization, which indicated that many critical saboteurs in the organization manipulated both Hollow and Shinigami, indirectly causing both Pathogos' betrayal and the deaths of the Namamuras in order to spark a war. If so, this would mean that the Monochrome Wars, and all conflicts that spun from them, were the true doing of Purgare. Full-Scale War In the beginnings of the initial war, was completely outmatched and overwhelmed by the Espada and their armies. On average, the foot soldiers of the Arrancar had power comparable to a Vice-Captain. Because of this, many shinigami of lower seats were slaughtered. After the death of yet another Captain and Vice-Captain, the Gotei withdrew and returned to Soul Society in shame. The shinigami trained and prepared themselves for battle in case the Espada pursued them to Seireitei, but no pursuit ever happened. The Second Phase of the War The last survivor of a scouting unit returned to Sotaicho Ashikage Musashi with information about the Source, which gave the Arrancar their incredible power. Musashi mobilized a strike team to find the Source, somewhere within Hueco Mundo. To overcome the advantage the Arrancar had of an impregnable base of operations, Twelfth Division Lieutenant Justice Kuroshin developed a means of artificially producing a Garganta. This "means" as it turned out, was revealed to be Kuroshin's hollowification, which he had kept secret for decades. The incident was reported by Onmitsukidō forces securing the site of the Garganta, and the Executive Militia was dispatched to arrest him. Kuroshin got word of this and, with help from his friend Takebachi Soramaru, Kuroshin escaped to Earth. The Source Expedition had arrived in Hueco Mundo, but were now stuck there. Over the years, many battles erupted over Earth and Soul Society, with the Arrancar pretty much having free reign to come and go as they pleased. This is still often considered the darkest, and most shameful, era in the hitory of the Gotei, having few victories against the Espada forces and only barely managing to put up a struggling defense. During this time, five Captains, seven Lieutenants, and more than 1500 members of the Gotei died or went missing. While many Espada were slain as well, they were replaced at a faster rate than the Gotei could promote new Captains. The Battle of Easter Island In 1949, after years of fruitless battle, Sixth Seat of the First Division, Sasaki Yoshitsune, finally devised a plan: to lure the Arrancar to a secluded island on Earth called Easter Island by having the Kidou Corps create a font of powerful reiatsu that the Hollow would find irresistible. Suspecting a trap, but convinced of their superiority after series of victories, many Arrancar took the bait, and the Gotei struck hard and fast, doing as much damage and slaying as many Numeros as possible. Even this plan, however, would have gone to waste if The Source Expedition hadn't been successful. Now ambushed and cut off from their main source of power, the Arrancar were overwhelmed and suffered their first, and ultimately most conclusive, defeat. However, the battle took a severe toll on Sotaicho Ashikage Musashi. The Battle of Las Noches But the war was not quite over. Unknown to the official records at this time, one final battle was being waged within Las Noches, the seat of Espada power in Hueco Mundo. Former Lieutenant Justice Kuroshin followed independent leads which indicated that an unknown entity had been manipulating both the Arrancar and Soul Society. Further, although the Source had been found, Kuroshin knew that he had seen the Crystallization Technique that Pathogos had used to create it in the first place--it was something that he and his former Captain, Jigoku Amitou, had developed in the past. This, along with personal reasons, prompted Kuroshin to siege Hueco Mundo with Takebachi Soramaru, Doreran Uoshintan (Senior), Aoi Soramaru, and Eri Ven. Once in Hueco Mundo, they were joined by Bayushi Shoju, who led what was left of The Source Expedition after three decades. The battles were intense, but in the end the group managed to cripple the plans of Amitou and his secret organization, Purgare, delaying their plans for the next several decades. However, several lives were lost, including all of The Source Expedition excluding Shoju, and both Eri Ven and Doreran Uoshintan, who had sacrificed themelve to allow the others to escape. Aftermath This war was the most devastating in the history of the Gotei--in addition to Shinigami casualties, thousands of humans and souls in Rukongai were slain or devoured. Furthermore, the military might of both the Shinigami and Arrancar had been eradicated. The Espada were almost wiped out yet again, but as with every incarnation in the past, the foundations of new version began to arise. From this point on, the health of Sotaicho Musashi steadily declined (leading to his eventual death in 2011). With so many losses, Shinigami capable of achieving Bankai had become extremely rare--forcing most Divisions to remain without a captain for decades. Military Timeline *'Preceded by:' The Long Peace *'Succeeded by:' The Interregnum